


Honesty is the Highest Form of Intimacy

by KaSaPe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Era, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 04:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13849674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaSaPe/pseuds/KaSaPe
Summary: “My request is rather simple, but has proven to be very effective when it comes to testing the limits of trust.”“Great. Here we go,” Pidge uttered under her breath, sounding done with the whole thing already. Keith wished he could show her how much he agreed, but didn’t dare to draw attention towards himself.“What do you need us to do?” asked Shiro.“Simple: tell each member of your team exactly what you think of them. Express the kind of thoughts you haven’t been able to tell them about in fear of their reaction.”Keith gets called from the Blade of Marmora to help Voltron secure an alliance - which proves a lot more difficult than expected after the leader of the Luveans makes the team touch a stone that they're only able to let go of after answering their questions with the truth.





	Honesty is the Highest Form of Intimacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zharena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zharena/gifts).



> This is part of the vld positivity day on tumblr, I asked what kind of tropes [roofshipping](http://roofshipping.tumblr.com/) liked... and then proceeded to write something completely different :'D Sorry for that, I hope you'll enjoy this anyway. Lots of team bonding ahead, so yay for that!!
> 
> -
> 
> ALSO A HUGE THANKS TO [ALFO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoSama) WHO HELPED ME THROUGH THIS WITH LOTS OF ~~distractions~~ EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT YOU'RE THE BEST OF THE BEST

“Keith.”

“One moment,” Keith called back. He kept all his attention on the training simulation, there was just one target left. He ducked under a shot, sidestepping a red blinking light on the ground that he knew represented a landmine. Two more bullets came in his direction; Keith deflected them with his blade and hurried behind a box.

Damn. He might be kind of protected from the lasers here but the angle was horrible. There was no way he could hit the button from this position.

Just as he got ready to dart back out into the fire the simulation powered down and his environment transformed back into the Blade’s training hall. Muffling a curse under his breath, he straightened out and put his knife back in its sheath. Thirty more seconds and he would have had it.

“Keith.”

“Yeah?” Shoving his frustrations aside, Keith turned towards the door. Resh stood tall and rigid, a sign that he was most likely here on orders from Kolivan.

“Kolivan wants to speak to you. You have a new mission.”

Go figure.

Keith nodded sharply and made to leave the training room. When he passed Resh, a hand momentarily lowered itself onto his head. “Good luck.” They weren’t especially close, but Resh had always been a touchy person.

“Do you know what it’s about?” Keith asked.

“He wouldn’t say. He seemed oddly happy though.”

Keith made a disbelieving noise but still made his way towards the main hall. He had been with the Blades for months now and he still hadn’t figured out how to tell when Kolivan was happy. Sometimes there was a little shift in his eyes and his shoulders loosened a little, but if he was completely honest with himself it might have just been a trick of the light. People on Earth had called him ‘hard-to-read’ quite frequently, he wondered what they would say about Kolivan.

When he reached the hall, his leader had already been expecting him. Kolivan nodded at him and Keith entered, noting that he was the only one in the room.

That was unusual. Meetings to discuss new missions usually included everyone that was somehow involved in it - so either the others hadn’t arrived yet or he was going on a solo mission. Considering Kolivan’s unwillingness to send Keith on those, it had to be the former.

“Team Voltron needs you.”

And just like that all of Keith’s expectations went out of the window.

_“What?!”_

“Team Voltron needs you. Princess Allura asked you to return for a few quintants. She said it was quite urgent and the sooner you can arrive, the better.”

Thoughts swirled together in his head and clashed together until they didn’t make sense anymore. They weren’t in danger, were they? No way, then they would have received a distress signal. Then why would it be urgent? And why would they only call for Keith?

Unless- unless Shiro-

No. Keith refused to entertain the thought for even a second. Shiro was fine. There had to be another explanation for it.

“They were all fine,” Kolivan’s voice broke through his thoughts. Keith lifted his head and searched his face for any hint of emotion but came up empty. “She assured me that while no one was in immediate danger, your presence is of vital importance for the mission.”

Keith breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. _Patience yields focus_. It would be fine.

“Alright. I’m getting ready to leave right now.”

“Please contact us as soon as you know when you will be available again.”

“Will do.”

Kolivan gave him another nod and Keith recalled Resh’s words. _‘He seemed oddly happy’._ It was true that there was a little twinkle in his eyes, something that seemed to soften his face. If he really was happy, then the team couldn’t be in danger. They probably just needed an extra person to back them up or something.

Why call him though? He was pretty sure that Matt was usually the guy they called for that.

Frowning in thought, Keith left the room. Kolivan might have called something along the lines of _‘be safe’_ after him, but if he did, Keith was already too far away to hear him clearly.

 

* * *

 

“Keith!” Keith looked up and unwittingly smiled when he saw Pidge hurrying his way. “Keith, you’re back!”

“Allura called me,” he answered just before she ran into him. Her small arms reached around his torso and gave him a big squeeze. For a moment he stood frozen, unsure of what to do, then he exhaled and tentatively hugged her back. It seemed to be the right thing to do as she separated herself and beamed up at him.

“Yeah, she did.”

“Don’t misunderstand, mullet, it’s all because of the mission.”

Keith’s heart gave a jump at the newest voice. He raised his head to see Lance leaning against the hanger’s door, a crooked grin on his face. There he was. Lance. _Lance_.

“Lance,” he said, way softer than intended. But instead of making fun of him, Lance dropped his cocky pose and gave an honest smile back.

“Hey, man.”

And again Keith’s heart jumped. That was kind of pathetic, wasn’t it? But Lance was just so… so _Lance_ , hands in his pockets and an open look on his face, and Keith might have missed him a little more than anticipated. It was hard not to miss Lance with his bright demeanor and supporting words, the person that carried him through what could have easily been labeled the most difficult time of his life.

“Lance!” Hunk’s voice suddenly sounded from the hallway. Both Lance and Pidge turned towards the door, grinning guiltily when their friend appeared and frowned at them. “You promised to wait for me. I had to get the others, this isn’t fair!”

“Well, if we had waited for you then Keith would have had no one to greet him,” Pidge said.

“Exactly! Think about how that would’ve come across! He’s been gone for months now, show a little empathy,” Lance complained. Keith was about to point out that he really wouldn’t have minded it when Hunk’s gaze fell on him.

“Keith!”

Keith barely had enough time to lift a hand in greeting when Hunk had already enveloped him in his arms, hugging him hard enough to restrict his airflow.

“Another one!” Pidge squealed happily and burrowed her head against his side. Hunk was babbling something about how much he had missed him and how many new projects he had finished that Keith hadn’t seen yet - and then Lance was jogging over, complaining about being left out - and it was all so ridiculous that Keith couldn’t help but laugh.

He felt lighter than he could remember being for at least half a year. There was so much happiness that it was almost overwhelming but there wasn’t a single thing Keith would change about it. Not even Lance’s chin digging uncomfortably into his shoulder or Hunk’s hair tickling his ear.

“What is going on here?” Allura’s perplexed voice sounded through the hanger.

“Group hug!” Hunk exclaimed. “Come join us!”

And then Allura was there too and behind her was Shiro, a warm smile on his face. Keith returned it, knowing that it was probably way too huge to be appropriate, but not being able to suppress it. Shiro didn’t mention it, he just wrapped his arms around them all and squeezed them.

“Welcome, Keith,” Allura said.

“It’s good to have you back,” Shiro added.

“Yeah. It’s good to be back,” he answered, closing his eyes and letting himself breathe. He knew that he couldn’t stay here forever but just for a while, he allowed himself to live in the moment.

For a while, he was home.

 

* * *

 

“And they asked for me?” Keith couldn’t help but be skeptical. He hasn’t been part of recruiting new allies for almost a year now. Why would these new aliens want to meet him of all people?

“In a way.” Allura nodded. “The Luveans have suffered a lot under Zarkon’s reign, so when they heard that we were allied with the Blade of Marmora they asked for a representant to join our meeting.”

“And you chose _me_?!” Wasn’t Kolivan the better choice? Granted, neither of them were particularly good with words, but Kolivan was the leader. He could speak on behalf of the Blade and he has probably had more experience when it comes to diplomatic talks than Keith did.

“Yes, well…” Allura trailed off and looked to the side. Keith followed her gaze and found that she was looking at Lance, who was very intently staring at the ground.

“During introductions the Luveans noticed that none of us were called Keith, as opposed to the shows we’ve been doing,” Shiro piped up. “Lance was very eager to tell them that you had joined the Blade. Consequently, they assumed that we trusted you less and sent you away because of your Galran heritage.”

Keith just stood silently, absorbing it all. Leaving had been his decision, so this didn’t make sense at all. Not that the aliens would know that, of course.

“I wasn’t-! I only wanted to answer their questions!” Lance said. Shiro gave him an unimpressed look.

“We already talked about this, Lance. Leave the diplomatic discussions to Allura and me. Especially when it comes to potential allies that still have troubles trusting the Galra on our side. I don’t know what went through your head to mention that Keith isn’t fully human and left us, but please refrain from broadcasting that everywhere in the future.” Keith could see that Lance still wanted to argue the point, but he just nodded and looked away. Shiro gave a sigh of relief and gestured towards Allura. “Alright, continue.”

There was a slight hesitation on Allura’s part, but she pushed through it and smiled at Keith. “Indeed, that’s what happened. We assured the Luveans that you had our full trust, but they didn’t seem overly inclined to listen until we offered to bring you along. I hope that we didn’t interrupt anything important on your part?”

“No, no, it’s fine, I’m in between missions right now,” Keith answered honestly. He felt uncomfortable, there were tensions between the team that hadn’t been there before. Maybe he should talk to Shiro about it later. Or Lance - he might be the better choice when it came team stuff. He didn’t know.

He really didn’t know, Keith realized. He had been gone for so long that he wasn’t sure anymore where he stood within the team. And not just him, he couldn’t even tell with the others.

It hurt.

“That’s good,” Allura said, relief audible. “We should be arriving planetside within half a varga. I will call you here when there are around five doboshes left. You can relax in the meantime.”

“Yes, but,” Shiro cut in, “we can’t say for sure how they are going to receive us. Don’t let your guard down and take your bayards with you.”

Keith thought that sounded rather logical. He gave a nod and a smile in Shiro’s direction before turning towards Lance - only to see that Lance was intently staring at the ground again.

Yeah, something was definitely different. Keith wished he was better with words so that he could address the weird atmosphere without sounding like an idiot. As it was, he just silently followed Hunk and Pidge out of the room, waiting for them to break the tension.

It wasn’t until Lance joined them in the hall that everything returned to normal.

“So, Keith! You ready to see what crazy stuff our two geniuses cooked up while you were gone?”

Keith let out a silent breath of relief and grinned. “Hit me up.”

 

* * *

 

Keith wasn’t quite sure what he had expected out of meeting the Luv-somethings, but it most certainly hadn’t been this.

It wasn’t that the aliens were particularly weird. They looked rather humanoid, if a little on the grayer side, with actual grass growing on their arms and shoulders. Some of them even grew flowers and it made Keith wonder how they slept without crushing them.

Anway. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the huge stone that they were asked to surround and put their hand against.

Because for some reason they couldn’t let go of it.

“What the-” Keith pulled a little harder, but he really genuinely was stuck. It was like someone had superglued his hand to this massive boulder.

“Uh,” Hunk said from right across Keith, “is anyone else kind of… stuck?”

“You bet I am! This is weird, it’s like my hand is having an affair with the stone and doesn’t want to part with it anymore.”

“Ew, Lance, why would you say that,” Hunk complained and pulled harder at his arm. At least that’s what it looked like: despite being stuck to the same boulder Keith didn’t feel the slightest movement from it.

“Okay, one: _no_. And two, can someone please convince the aliens to let us go again? It’s freaky, the stone doesn’t even have the same kind of life as the plants on Olkarion had, it shouldn’t be able to keep us-”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Shiro said. He was addressing the leader of the aliens, who was completely unfazed by their complaints.

“It’s a necessary precaution. If you answer our questions truthfully, the Levan will let you go right away.”

“A necessary precaution?! We came here to talk and offer our-” Keith began, but Allura cut him off.

“Alright, we understand. It cannot be easy to trust someone after having gone through years of subjugation. We will listen to your requests.”

All of a sudden, the leader alien seemed to deflate. “Thank you for your understanding. We just have a few questions to pose and then we can get right to the discussion. I assure you that no harm will come to you as long as you answer the questions truthfully.”

“And if we don’t?” Pidge asked dubiously. The alien narrowed their eyes at her.

“You will not be able to part from the stone.”

Keith still had his issues with that, but the others relaxed upon hearing these words.

“Oh, great. That’s fine. I was worried we’d get electrocuted or something,” Hunk said.

“No, it’s nothing like that. We used to be a civilization built on trust and honesty, but after the Galra invaded our planet we grew more wary. The years spent in oppression and the fact that there was no one to help us fight back against them led us to become suspicious of outsiders… even if we are aware that they only want to help.”

“You want to make sure that we are honest with you,” Allura translated. “We understand, worry not. We don’t have anything to hide.”

No, they didn’t. And it wasn’t as if Keith could tell convincing lies even if he wanted to. Still, something about this made him uncomfortable - there was a reason he didn’t get involved too much in diplomacy. He had a feeling that they were going to ask him a lot of questions that he wouldn’t be able to find an answer to, if him being part Galra was the reason they wanted to meet him.

The alien nodded at Allura and then folded their arms behind their back. “We are glad to hear that. Shall we begin?”

“By any means.”

“Thank you. First question: is anyone here allied with the empire’s forces?”

“No,” Allura answered clearly. She disconnected her hand from the stone to prove that she was saying the truth. The alien just gave her a thin smile before looking over to Keith.

What? Allura answering wasn’t enough?

“No, no one here supports Zarkon in any way,” Keith said. The moment he answered, he could feel his hand detaching down the stone.

Free. He had said the truth. Lifting both arms to show the aliens that he wasn’t connected to the stone anymore, he took a step back. He didn’t get a smile as Allura had gotten, but then again, he hadn’t expected it either. When the alien nodded at Allura and she put her hand on the stone again, Keith followed her example. This wasn’t the first time he had come across planets that were wary of the Galra and he knew that the best way to deal with it was to present himself as non-threatening as possible.

One of the aliens to the side leaned a little closer to inspect his hand. They were checking if Keith was actually touching the stone, he realized; he pretended he didn’t notice them and kept his eyes on the leader.

“Next question: is this Keith, your previous red paladin?”

“Black paladin, actually,” Lance answered. Keith scrunched his face up but didn’t protest.

“ _Lance_ ,” Shiro said sternly.

“What?! It’s the truth! And this is about telling the truth, right? I’m not lying!” Lance raised both hands and took several steps back. “Keith was our black paladin before he left for the Blade of Marmora. That’s a fact.”

“I wasn’t really the black paladin,” Keith piped up. Immediately, the alien’s eyes narrowed and zeroed in on him. “I piloted the black lion but I was never… I mean, I kind of had the role of the black paladin. But only temporarily. Shiro was gone so I had to replace him for a while but I was never supposed to stay. It’s not… he’s the leader.”

Keith could feel Shiro’s eyes coming to rest on him, but he refused to look up. They had had that argument countless times already. No, Keith wasn’t a leader. He constantly messed up and put the team in danger. Shiro was the one everyone looked up to, the one that protected them.

Lifting his hands from the stone, Keith stepped backwards too.

It was the truth.

Silence enveloped the group for a bit, then the alien looked towards Shiro and nodded over at Keith. “What happened exactly?”

“Um.” Keith shared a short look with Shiro, then he looked down again. Shiro seemed just as reluctant to talk about it as Keith felt but it’s not like he had much of a choice. This alliance was important, this much had been obvious from the moment Allura had called him over to join them.

“The Galra captured me in one of our fights,” Shiro said slowly. “I used to be the black paladin before that, but Keith took over in my absence. Before that, Keith had been piloting the red lion. Lance moved into his place-” Lance gave the aliens a grim smile “-and Allura took Lance’s lion. After I came back, Keith insisted on me taking back my regular place.”

“Because it’s your thing!” Keith exclaimed. The way Shiro talked about it, it sounded like it had been a mistake. No way, the team was better off like this. “You are the better leader between us! Black is your lion!”

“Kei-” Before Lance could complete his sentence, Shiro raised his hands to cut him off. He was turned towards Keith but looked away again after not even a tick.

“We’re not getting into this right now. That’s what happened.”

The alien didn’t seem all that impressed by his story. “His leave had nothing to do with the fact that you can’t trust him?”

Before the question even fully registered, Lance had already come to his defense. “No!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “Keith is a part of our team, if he’s with us or not. He-”

“Your hands,” one of the aliens remarked. Lance froze for a moment, frowned at them and finally smacked both of his hands against the boulder.

“Keith is part of our team,” he repeated coldly. “I would trust him with my _life_.” Then he lifted his hands again, moving them slowly enough that it almost seemed like he was mocking them.

And Keith?

Keith was stunned. Yes, Lance had supported him before. Yes, he would trust Lance with his life. And yes, he had known that Lance trusted him with his life too - but he hadn’t expected him to be this serious about it. He sounded like even just the insinuation of Keith being less than trustworthy offended him somehow. It was- he felt-

Warm. Warm and happy and maybe a little bit in love.

“Lance is right,” Pidge joined in. “Keith is a little odd and distant sometimes, but we love him.”

“Yeah, man. I don’t know anyone who’s as dedicated to the mission as him. Besides Allura, maybe,” Hunk said.  

“That is true. He has proven time and time again that he is worthy of being a paladin and we are very lucky to have him on the team.”

Even Allura agreed? Keith knew that he was probably making a really stupid face right now, but he wasn’t able to get his features back under control. They were saying such nice things about him, he didn’t- he didn’t know what to think- or how to react, he couldn’t-

As if he sensed it, Shiro’s left hand fell heavy onto his shoulder. “Everyone in this team trusts him wholly. He has never given us any reason not to. Leaving was his decision and his decision alone, we simply supported him.”

All at once the team let their hands drop from the stone. Keith blinked and tried to swallow past the lump forming in his throat. “I’m- thank you guys,” he said, voice weirdly rough.

Pidge grinned at him. “We said nothing but the truth! You’d do the same for us too, it’s no big deal.”

He wouldn’t cry. He _wouldn’t_. There was no reason to, they weren’t even talking about anything sad.

“Yeah. Yeah, you guys are - you’re pretty great,” Keith said. His voice cracked but no one seemed to care, they all just returned his wobbly smile with happy faces of their own.

The alien cleared their throat and everyone turned back towards them. “May we continue?”

“Still?” Lance grumbled but was quick to put his hands back on the stone. Keith silently agreed with him. Everyone trusted everyone, wasn’t that enough? The alien waited for everyone to resume their original positions, then they continued.

“After Keith joined the… Galra organization-”

“Blade of Marmora,” Keith said immediately.

“-Blade of Marmora, did he trust them?”

“Yeah,” he answered honestly. “I would trust any allies of the team, even those I haven’t met yet. If Allura says we can trust them, I believe her.”

Apparently he had said something wrong. Multiple aliens started murmuring to each other, looking at him from the corner of their eyes. What? What had he done wrong? He hastily lifted his hands when he realized that he still had them resting against the stone, but that didn’t seem to calm them down at all.

The contrary, in fact.

“Well, trust seems to be a very important part of your team,” the leader alien finally said. Keith exchanged a dubious look with Lance and waited for Allura to answer. He had already done enough damage, even if he didn’t know how.

“It is. If the paladins don’t trust one another, they wouldn’t be able to form Voltron,” she confirmed.

“Enough so that you would trust people you haven’t even met just because someone claimed that they were trustworthy.”

Keith frowned and observed Allura’s easy smile becoming a little strained. “Yes. We cannot afford to be suspicious of everyone that wants to join our fight because of bad experiences. It would be extraordinarily difficult to have them prove their sincerity; not to mention that it would give them the impression that they have to earn their stay as they had to under Zarkon’s reign.”

“Not to offend, but don’t you think your view is a little naive, princess?”

Keith froze. He was pretty sure that Allura’s smile was growing more forced by the tick, but didn’t dare to check. If anyone of the team had told her that, he was pretty sure that they would be dead by tomorrow.

“I prefer to think of it as giving people a chance to prove themselves. You are not the only ones who have suffered by the hand of the Galra and while I accept that you are being skeptical, I will not stand for any insult against allies.”

The alien seemed to take their time with evaluating her words, tapping their foot on the ground while doing so. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for the response.

Finally, they raised their head again.

“I understand what you are trying to say and while I will respect the way you are handling things, you are currently on my land. So how about a compromise: you will answer one last demand on my part and if I deem the results to be to my satisfaction, we will join your alliance on your terms.”

Keith frowned and the words were out before he could help it. “Why would you give in that quickly?”

Sharp but tired eyes met his and the alien stepped a little closer towards the stone. “Because, young man, your way seems to have worked out fine just far. We want this alliance just as much as you do, we called you here for a reason. Voltron brings hope and light into the most desolate parts of the universe - but it is based on trust. And that is something we have lost throughout our history.”

“But you don’t have to stay like that,” Lance piped up. “It’s all about bravery, right? If you hadn’t fought back against the Galra, your situation never would have changed. You were brave and you took a risk. It’s not too late to do the same thing now.”

The alien gave him a long and intense luck, then they broke out into chuckles. “You are good at the speeches thing, aren’t you?”

“Me?! Oh, um, I guess?” Lance squeaked. Keith couldn’t help the huff of laughter from escaping, Lance was ridiculous. When he finally got the compliments he always wanted he didn’t know what to do with them.

“Oh, shut up, mullet.”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“You were thinking something.”

That, Keith couldn’t deny. Instead of arguing back, he pouted. Lance grinned triumphantly and turned towards the alien again.

“In any case, it’s the truth. You can change if you put your mind to it.” He lifted his hands to underline the point, which got him another chuckle from the alien.

“Which is why I suggested the compromise,” they said, somehow looking a lot more agreeable than before. “I will try to trust in your methods if you prove how deep your trust into one another goes.”

For a while there was silence, then Hunk spoke up. “Uh, not that I’m saying that we shouldn’t do that, but what did you have in mind? Because while I’m absolutely ready to die for my friends I’m not very keen on jumping headfirst into lava just to prove a point.”

“And you won’t have to,” the alien said. Now that they acted more politely, Keith kind of felt bad for not remembering their name. “My request is rather simple, but has proven to be very effective when it comes to testing the limits of trust.”

“Great. Here we go,” Pidge uttered under her breath, sounding done with the whole thing already. Keith wished he could show her how much he agreed, but didn’t dare to draw attention towards himself.

“What do you need us to do?” asked Shiro.

“Simple: tell each member of your team exactly what you think of them. Express the kind of thoughts you haven’t been able to tell them about in fear of their reaction.”

Keith blinked. They were supposed to do what?

“We’re supposed to do _what_?!” shouted Lance.

“There is no better way to show how deep your trust really goes. If you’re able to voice anything towards someone else, then you have opened yourself up completely.”

“Well, alright. But maybe there’s a reason we haven’t told them yet. Like- like, what if we hurt their feelings?” Hunk asked worriedly. “I’ve had lots of bad thoughts about someone when I was angry. But I don’t actually think they are a bad person, you know? Do I have to tell them about that?”

“What, what exactly were you thinking about me?” Lance asked, eyes narrowed.

“Nothing! I mean, nothing too bad. I kind of did want to strangle you when you dropped the conductor yesterday and set our experiment back by three days.”

“Oh yeah, me too,” Pidge agreed immediately.

“That’s-! That’s not even secret, you literally told me that at lunch!”

“Oh, did I? See, I don’t even remember!” Hunk gestured animatedly with his left hand. “How am I supposed to know what counts and what doesn’t?”

“The Levan doesn’t actually know what is the truth or not. As long as you believe that it is something of importance that you haven’t told another person - or haven’t told them often enough - then it will be deemed acceptable.”

There was a brief silence and Keith tried not to think about what this meant for him. He couldn’t imagine that the others had a lot of good things left to tell him when they had already stood up for him earlier. Instead he tried to think of things he hadn’t told the others yet, things that were important, things they probably deserved to know-

His gaze fell onto Lance.

_Oh no._

“Well, okay.” Hunk’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “In that case, I’ll go first. Lance, you know I love you and I wouldn’t change you for the world, but your showing off can get a little annoying.”

“Geez, thanks, buddy,” Lance grumbled. “That’s the thanks I get for being your best friend?”

“I’m supposed to tell you something I didn’t tell you before! I can’t tell you _again_ how badass I think your shooting skills are, can I?”

“I guess so. If that’s the worst you can come up with, I’m okay,” Lance grinned. Hunk grinned back and raised both hands for a high five - that Lance only returned with one - before facing Allura.

“Uh, so… you can be kinda scary when you’re angry.” Hunk paused hesitantly, then let out a whoosh of air and dropped his shoulders. “Okay, a lot. A lot scary, I’m very scared of an angry Allura. You’re also very pretty though, which I don’t know if I’ve actually told you before since Lance usually takes care of that.”

Allura blinked for a while as if she was surprised by the information while Hunk lifted his hands. She didn’t seem upset though, if anything she seemed weirdly pleased with herself.

“Next… Pidge? Pidge. You’re… hm. Very tiny.”

“You’re supposed to tell me something I don’t know,” Pidge grumbled. Keith resisted the urge to give her an awkward pat on the back. There was a snicker coming from Lance and Keith had no doubt that he was gonna pay for that later… if Pidge even remembered it after all of this.

“But I don’t know what! I’ve told you pretty much everything I think of you! Tiny? Check. Smart? Check. Fun to hang out with? Check. Useful? Check. Builds the coolest robots and actually appreciates my algebra jokes? Double check! What else is there?” Just when he had finished that sentence, a lightbulb seemed to appear over his head. “No, you know what? I think it’s unfair how you treat me. Lance gets to touch your equipment, I don’t get to do that.”

“Well, technically I never allowed Lance to touch it either, he just does it-”

“Yeah, but when I do it, you slap me away. It’s not fair.”

“Because I know that you might take them for yourself! Lance has no use for them, he just looks at them and puts them back, with you I’m always in danger of you taking them apart!”

“But I’d put them back together agai-”

“Guys,” Shiro interrupted. “Guys. Let’s calm down for a moment. Hunk, are you able to lift your hands yet?”

Hunk tried it and lo and behold, he was able to lift his hands. “Oh. I guess that was enough, then. Phew. I was afraid I’d get murdered if I had to talk more.”

“Touch my equipment and we’ll see if you’re in the clear yet,” Pidge threatened.

“I won’t! I won’t, promise, see?” Hunk touched the stone and lifted his hands again to prove his sincerity. “I just think it’s unfair. But I’m not going to do anything without your permi-”

“ _Guys_.”

“Sorry, Shiro,” Hunk said, placing his hands back on the stone. Then he turned towards Keith.

Oh no.

Keith felt dread settle in his stomach and told himself that he was strong enough to hear him out. He owed him at least that much.

“Keith, I really miss you. I mean, I know I already told you that like five times today but I had to say it again. It’s true. You never did much besides brooding in the corner but it was kind of relaxing to have you in the background. Like, _‘oh, there’s Keith’_ , you know? _‘He’s there if I need someone to listen to me’_. I don’t know if you actually listened to any of my complaints but it was a nice feeling.”

The more Hunk talked, the more the disbelief spread through his body. _This_ was what Hunk chose to tell him? But he had- he was pretty sure that he had failed them all back when he was trying to be a leader-

Keith swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “I’m- I did. Listen to you, I mean. I listened.”

Hunk’s face lighted up and he raised his hands for a high five across the stone. Keith hurried to mimic him, not wanting him to think that he had lied.

“Aw, thanks, man! I knew I could count on you. You should come back to hang out between missions more often.”

“I’ll think about it,” Keith said vaguely, still trying to process the words Hunk had directed at him just now.

“That’s all I can ask. Next up, Shiro-”

For the first time since Hunk’s round had begun, he fell silent. It wasn’t a hesitant pause as he has had with Allura, it was a break in the conversation. Whatever it was that he had to tell Shiro, it seemed to be something serious.

Just when the pause bordered on awkward, Lance cut in. “Yeah, actually, I’m pretty sure I know what Hunk wants to say. Because I have to tell you something similar.” Keith noted how he exchanged a look with Allura and drew in a deep breath. “I don’t like how you’ve been acting lately. I know that you really care about us and I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job but… sometimes it feels like you’re ignoring us.”

Keith turned towards Shiro who was blinking in surprise. “I’m what?”

“Ignoring us,” Pidge piped up. Keith’s head swiveled around fast enough to rival the red lion’s speed. “Less so me, more so Lance.”

“I know that you aren’t trying to shut me out or anything. I know that. But sometimes it feels like you’re not even seeing what I’m capable of. I know that I make a lot of jokes, but I take my role as a paladin just as seriously as the others. You are not the only one who trains in his free time.”

“Yes, I’ve been noticing something similar,” Allura said slowly. “Lately it feels like you’ve been harder to work with. You’re quicker to reject ideas that don’t fit exactly into your pattern of approaching things. I get that you have been under… a lot of stress lately, to put it lightly, but everyone here would appreciate it if you listened to them a little more. Not to say that we aren’t appreciating what you are doing for us already.”

Keith furrowed his brows as he looked back to Shiro. Shiro himself seemed shocked and confused by the complaints he was getting-

“Hey, he’s trying his best!” Keith blurted out before he could stop it. “None of you know what it’s like to pilot the black lion, so you should give him a-”

“Keith,” Shiro said softly. “Let them talk. I want to hear what they have to say.”

At Shiro’s reaction, Hunk finally seemed to gather the courage to say something himself. “Yeah man, the others are right! It’s like you’ve been a out of it ever since Keith found you in the pod. It’s not that you’re a completely different person, you’ve just been kind of… distant. Removed from us.” Hunk paused a little, then he lowered his head. “I want you to make jokes again. I want the old Shiro back.”

Something resonated in Keith when Hunk said those words. Shiro _had_ been distant. Even when Shiro came to talk to him in private, Keith didn’t find the same comfort in his words as he had used to. It was like he was operating on a different wavelength now, and try as hard as he might, Keith couldn’t really connect anymore.

Murmurs of agreement sounded from around the rock and Keith lowered his head. He felt bad for agreeing with them. Shiro was his best friend. Shiro was the one person who had always been on his side-

“Keith?” Slowly, Keith raised his head to look at Shiro. “And what about you?”

Keith swallowed a few times, but it didn’t help his breathing. “I-” His mouth was dry. “You know how much you mean to me, I-” _How was this so hard to say?_ “I agree with them,” he finally managed, hating himself with every fiber of his being. He had betrayed him. Shiro didn’t deserve this, he deserved someone to stand behind him, to stand up for him-

“What can I do differently?”

Keith’s head shot up to find Shiro’s earnest eyes trained on him. “I wasn’t trying to make you or anyone else-” he glanced towards Lance, who straightened at his words “-feel neglected. I have been trying to keep us focused on the mission, but if everyone shares the same opinion I might have gone wrong somewhere. You were scared to tell me what you were really thinking; I don’t want that. We are a team, you’re supposed to be able to tell me anything.”

Relief bloomed in Keith’s chest and he lifted his hands just to place them on the stone directly after. It was important to get his honesty across. “I feel bad for complaining. I know you just want what’s best for the team. And even if I’m rarely at the castle nowadays, I want you to know that you can count on me. I have your back. Always.”

“And I have yours.”

“Ditto,” someone else whispered. Keith wasn’t sure whether it was Lance or Hunk, but that didn’t matter. Either way he was thankful for the support and he sent a smile in their direction.

A weird choking noise followed from Lance but before Keith could grow concerned, he cleared his throat and drew up to his full height. “Since I started anyway, I’ll keep going. Hunk, the real reason I stole your dessert two weeks ago was that you were hogging the showers at training that day.”

Hunk gasped and gave Lance a scandalized look. “You said you _weren’t_ angry at me for that!”

Grimacing, Lance shrugged a little. “I lied.”

“No!”

“Sorry, man.” But when Lance tried to lift his hands, they stayed stuck. “Wait, what-”

“Oh man, Lance, don’t joke like that! I was seriously concerned for a second the-”

“I’m not!” Lance shouted, drowning out Hunk’s words. Keith raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I - this wasn’t a lie, why can’t I lift my hands?”

“Because the truth you told wasn’t the truth you had to tell,” the alien leader spoke up. It got them a lot of blank looks, so they elaborated. “I asked you to tell the others something important you haven’t told them before, something you feel they deserve to hear. Your truth might not have been a lie, but it wasn’t the answer you should be giving. The only reason your friend got away with it is because he didn’t have any of these truths left; he seems like a very honest person.”

At the alien's words, a bad feeling crawled up in Keith. It wasn’t that he had intended to lie, but if the stone refused anything but your deepest thoughts, then… he wasn’t used to having to be vulnerable.

It scared him.

A deep sigh from Lance had Keith redirecting his attention back to him. “Okay, fine. I get it. Hunk, I know I told you before, but I don’t think you ever really understood how important it is.” Lance raised his head and looked Hunk directly in the eyes. “I’m glad you ended up in space with me. Really glad. There’s no one I would rather defend the universe with.”

When Lance tried to lift his hands this time, they detached easily.

“Aw, buddy,” Hunk said, tears forming in his eyes. “I knew that. I knew all that already. You’re my best friend, man. I’m stuck right now so please come give me a hug, I refuse to let it go just like this.”

Lance laughed and gave Hunk a squeeze, filling Keith’s heart with warmth. He loved these people. He loved them all so much. He was happy to see that despite his prolonged absence, they hadn’t changed much at all.

“Right. Right, I gotta continue now,” Lance said, sounding slightly muffled from where he was pressed against Hunk’s biceps. “Can’t have the others waiting.”

Hunk made an agreeable noise and Lance got back to his original position, turning to Allura.

“Allura, you… I never expected you to become as important to me as you did. You’re amazing all around and I’ve known that since we first ended up in space, but ever since that time where Shiro disappeared you’ve become so much more than that. You’re my best friend after Hunk. I feel like you won’t judge me for being honest and I want you to know you can depend on me.” Lance shyly lifted his hands and took a few steps backwards.

“Oh, Lance.” Allura smiled. “I feel the same. I didn’t expect to get along with you after our… differences in the beginning. But you have grown and changed and become a really admirable person who is shining more with each passing day. Thank you for trusting me and becoming my friend.”

She tried to take a step backwards - and couldn’t. Keith’s eyebrows wandered up as he looked between Allura, Lance, and the stone.

“What is the meaning of this?” Allura demanded to know. “It is the truth!”

“Apparently it is not the truth you wish to tell,” the alien leader said, raising his shoulders. “I have no control over it.”

Allura grumbled and drew her eyebrows together. Keith wished he could comfort her, but he knew he was crap at that. “Fine,” she said finally, glaring at Lance. Lance forced a worried grin in response that made Allura sigh. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just, I think… I think you’re…”

“You think he’s…?” Hunk probed.

“I… think he’s…”

“He is…?”

“I think he is… actually really attractive,” Allura bit out, almost looking physically pained by the confession.

“Oh my god, why would you say that!” Pidge groaned. “He’ll never shut up now!”

“You think what?!” Lance squeaked. Allura just shook her head and lifted her hands, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I’m not going to repeat that. Take it or leave it.”

“No, no, I’ll take it, by any means,” Lance said. “Did you guys all hear that? _Allura_ thinks I’m _attractive_! This is the best day of my life!”

It certainly wasn’t the best day of Keith’s life though. His mood had soured inexplicably as soon as he had heard Allura’s words. It wasn’t that he disagreed - on the contrary, Lance was very attractive. He knew that. But he just… and Lance was so happy…

Jealousy, Keith realized. As soon as he had identified the feeling, he beat it down with a stick. He shouldn’t feel jealous. He had no _reason_ to feel jealous. Sure, he kind of sort of liked Lance, but he could be mature about it. It wasn’t like he had a chance with Lance anyway, so-

Bad thoughts. Very bad thoughts. Keith shoved them all aside and focused on keeping his head empty until Lance stopped his bragging and turned towards Pidge.

“Alright, so, Pidge… hm, what do I have to tell you…”

“Please don’t make it weird,” Pidge said. Lance pouted in fake offense and glared at her.

“I haven’t even said anything yet!”

“Which is why I’m warning you in advance.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He seemed to think for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “I actually think you’re kind of adorable. Like, I know you’re kind of a genius and I know you could probably kick my ass if you really wanted to, but you’re really cute.” He grinned, but when Pidge refused to answer verbally, he deflated a little. “You also… remind me of home, kind of. The way you’re talking about Matt reminds me of my own family… I’m jealous you have him here. Even if it’s dangerous for both of you.”

“That’s… Lance, I’m sorry-”

“It’s not your fault,” Lance assured Pidge immediately. “That’s on me. I’m happy you found him again, I really am. Please don’t ever hold back because of me. I just… felt you should know. You’re very lucky.”

“I know,” Pidge whispered.

Keith swallowed and looked away, he felt like he was intruding somehow. He didn’t know what to think of this. He didn’t even have a family, he shouldn’t be a part of this conversation.

There was a brief silence, then Lance’s bright voice spoke up again. “Alright, depressing things aside, it’s Keith’s turn! You ready, man?”

He wasn’t.

“Bring it.”

“You know you have to be honest, right?” Hunk said suddenly. Keith ignored the fearful squeeze of his heart and pretended to be unaffected.

Lance, for his part, just scoffed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. If I’m not honest, I’m gonna stay stuck here. Alright, Keith, Keith…”

Keith bit his lip to not snap at him and tell him to hurry up. His heart was beating too fast, he felt like he was going to be sick.

Finally, Lance sighed. “Alright, so, here’s the thing. I used to hate you, kind of.”

Yeah, he had expected as much.

So why did it still hurt?

“Mostly because you were everything I ever wanted to be, you know? Smart, cool, good-looking, self-assured, a talented pilot. Friends with Shiro. Acknowledged by teachers and classmates alike.”

...wait, what?

“But then we got into space. And you were infuriating, don’t get me wrong, but you were also… well, kind of cool. When you were flying. Or. Y’know. Sword fighting. Or… or talking.” Lance scrunched his face up as if he regretted his words and looked down. “So yeah,” he continued, quieter than before, “I admire you.”

Keith just stood there. The words didn’t really register. Lance thought he was… cool? And… good-looking? He admired him?!

It wasn’t until Lance tried to take a step back and _couldn’t_ that Keith snapped out of his shock.

All the color drained from Lance’s face. “Oh come on, that’s enough, right? It has to be enough! I don’t- I don’t know what else to say, I can’t- there’s not-” Lance stopped himself and drew his shoulders up. “I can’t.”

A pang resounded in Keith’s chest. Of course he couldn’t.

Lance looked up again, his eyes regretful. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith mutely shook his head. He should have known. There was nothing to apologize for. “It’s fine,” he heard himself say. “It’s whatever.”

Keith’s hands were stuck.

Not that anyone noticed.

“No, it’s not,” Shiro said, frowning. “Lance, this is about the mission-”

“Shiro,” Keith cut in. He was surprised by his own sharpness but masked the feeling pretty well. “Leave it.”

“I can’t. This is bigger than just you two not getting along. We could be losing a potential ally just because-”

“How about this,” Allura said suddenly. “I’ll continue and meanwhile Lance can… think about how to say what he has to say. Does that sound acceptable?”

Shiro evidently wasn’t quite happy with it but didn’t protest any further. And neither was Keith - he was kind of numb inside. It was whatever. He was pretty sure that Lance wouldn’t be able to tell him the truth no matter how much time passed.

“Alright, Hunk, you are a great asset to the team, even if your complaints get exhausting at times,” Allura said. “I am aware that it is how you deal with the situation, but if you could cut them back a little it would be greatly appreciated.”

“Wait, that’s it? No compliments like Lance has gotten?”

Allura frowned and pursed her lips in thought. “Your cooking is really great?” she offered finally. “Even if these ‘pizza rolls’ are kind of strange.”

“No way!” Pidge interjected immediately. “Pizza rolls are amazing!”

“I said they were strange, not that they were bad. We haven’t had anything of the sort back on Altea.”

“Well, then you guys were seriously missing out.”

At that, Allura smiled. “We might have. Come to think of it, Pidge, your turn - I was disappointed when we first met. I was so happy to have a female friend for once, but you weren’t really interested in girls time.”

Pidge blinked. “Wait, girls time?”

“Yes! Like sleepovers and exchanging stories and dressing up. I got over it after a while, especially after Lance showed me his face masks, but it put a damper on my perception of you at first. I apologize for that.”

Pidge seemed a little overwhelmed at that and self consciously angled her head away. “There’s no - you don’t have to apologize. I didn’t even notice you were upset or… wanted that.” She hesitated slightly, then she tacked on: “If you still want it, we could do it sometime. I’m down for it.”

“Really?!” With the way Allura’s face lit up, one could have thought Pidge had told her that Zarkon had died of heart failure. “That’d be amazing! Oh, we’re going to have so much fun! I think I already know exactly what to-”

Shiro cleared his throat and Allura sobered up quickly. “Oh. Yes. Right. Moving on.” Her eyes fell on Keith and he shrank away a little, scared of what she had to tell him.

But then her eyes softened. “Keith, you were a substantial part of me overcoming my hatred for the Galra. You gave me space and helped me grow as a person, and I don’t think I ever thanked you for that. Thanks to you, I got to see the bigger picture, after everything that happened to me.”

“That wasn’t me though. I didn’t do anything,” Keith protested. “That was all you.”

“You cannot grow up _for_ me,” Allura said, her expression still so much softer than usual. “But as I just said, you gave me the space for it. The foundation. You kept doing your part in defending the universe and consequently didn’t allow me to disregard your efforts. Please accept my thanks.”

“I - okay,” Keith answered softly. “You’re welcome.” It felt wrong to say that, all wrong. He hadn’t done anything for Allura, the only thing he had done was to draw back in fear of getting hurt. Accepting thanks for that felt beyond selfish.

But Allura seemed satisfied with his response and nodded towards Pidge. “Do you want to continue?”

Pidge seemed to hesitate but then nodded determinedly. “Yeah, fine. Keith.” Keith startled, hadn’t it just been his turn?

“Keith, you’re a pretty cool guy. I mean, you’re the loner and all, but I always got the impression that you still cared for us. Sometimes I feel like we just annoy you and I’m never quite sure how much personal space you actually need so it’s kind of difficult to connect with you sometimes but I have the feeling that we could get along really great. When you aren’t being emo. Not that that’s a bad thing - it’s your thing, I get that, and I don’t want you to change, not really, not-”

“Pidge,” Keith interrupted, slightly exasperated. “I have no idea what you’re saying.”

Pidge blinked at him with huge eyes behind her glasses before lowering her head. “I wish we were better friends,” she confessed finally, lifting her hands from the stone.

All of a sudden, it was as if Keith could feel his heartbeat ten times stronger than before. “Me too,” he said past the rushing of blood in his ears. “I really want to be better friends with you. All of you. But you’re - you’re really cool, Pidge. You’re great.”

When Keith lifted his hands, he got enveloped in a short but crushing hug on Pidge’s part. Before he could return it, she was already back with her hands against the stone, her eyes fixed on Lance.

“Lance. You’re an idiot.”

“Hey! I take offense to that!”

“But you’re by far my favorite idiot. You’ve been standing up for me since the Garrison and I’m really glad that we got put in the same team. Sometimes, you reminded me of Matt - still do, if I’m being honest.” She took a deep breath and let it all out again. “Out of the entire team, I have the least problems trusting you with my things. Thanks for being awesome, when you aren’t busy being stupid.”

“I’m really not sure how to react to that,” Lance confessed, watching Pidge lift her hands. But then he smiled. “You’re important to me too, though.”

Pidge just grinned. “Yeah, I know. You sap.”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one holding an entire speech about my feelings!”

“Still a sap,” Pidge insisted, her grin broadening at Lance’s offended squawk. Then she turned towards Hunk. “Trusting you with my stuff aside, I’m the most comfortable around you. Building robots with you is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“Aww Pidge, I feel the same. We make an awesome team.”

“Hell yeah! Team Punk for the win!”

Both Hunk and Pidge laughed at that, lifting their hands to high five each other over the stone. Keith watched them with a small smile. They had always gotten along great, but it seemed like time had just brought them closer.

Still grinning a little, Pidge looked at Allura. “I’m not actually sure what to tell you,” she said openly. “I’m pretty sure I told you everything already. I admire you. The shape-shifting thing is really cool. It’s great to watch you knock Lance on his ass.” Lance’s offended ‘hey!’ went ignored by everyone. “And I - now I’m actually really looking forward to that promised girls night.”

“I’ll make it worth your time,” Allura promised, her eyes sparkling.

“Alright,” Shiro said suddenly, “I’ll continue.” He took a deep breath and stared down at the stone for a moment before looking each one of them in the eyes. “You gave me some valid critique and I am about to give some back. If we keep it in mind, I’m sure we can use it to improve our teamwork and the way we approach things.”

Keith straightened up and saw the others do the same out of the corner of his eyes.

“Lance. You’re loud and always involve yourself in stuff, even when I explicitly told you not to do it. I usually have a plan though and I’d appreciate it if you could trust me a little more.” Lance swallowed, nodded and finally looked down. No words came back from him. But then Shiro’s voice softened. “I’ve also seen how you care for us though. You are a good guy, Lance - you’re someone to lean on when there are problems. Within the team or personal ones, you are dependable and will try to help either way. Keep it up.”

At that, Lance lighted up. Shiro returned his smile but didn’t leave enough time to allow the conversation to derail.

“Next. Hunk. I appreciate your wariness, but I’d also appreciate if you would find a time and a place for it. I’m not asking you to change your personality, just to watch what you are saying, especially when we are around people that we aren’t sure we can trust yet.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fair. I don’t actually want to cause panic, it just happens sometimes. I get panicked, my thoughts get jumbled, I try to get them sorted out, they tumble out of my mouth, the others panic and just like that the situation got out of control.” Hunk furrowed his brows a little then made an unhappy expression. “Yeah, that’s definitely something I’ve gotta work on.”

Shiro chuckled and shifted his weight a little. “Don't lose it completely though, it helps a lot with pointing out errors in plans.”

“Okay. Got it. Don’t get rid of it, just tone it down a little.”

“That’s right. Thanks for being so approachable about this.”

“Hey, I do what I can!” Hunk said while shrugging. He was pretty obviously smug about it though. “No one’s perfect after all.”

“Right you are.” Still smiling a little, Shiro turned towards Allura. “I am genuinely sorry if I stressed you out lately or made you feel like I’m ignoring your input. I value your opinion more than anyone else’s when it comes to the mission. Your dedication and determination are both admirable. Thank you for leading this team with me.”

“You have been a great asset, Shiro. I doubt we would have come as far as we are now without you.”

Keith silently agreed with her ten times over. Shiro accepted her compliment with an inclination of his head before turning towards Pidge.

“Pidge. You’ve been amazingly strong ever since we ended up in space. I have no doubt that with your skills you will be able to find Commander Holt sooner rather than later.” Pidge’s eyes grew wide and hopeful when she saw Shiro lifting his hands from the stone.

“I’ll do my best,” she said, sounding a little choked up. Keith didn’t blame her. He knew how important her family was to her.

“I’m sure you will. Matt, I, and everyone else here will always support you. Now, Keith-” Keith tensed at getting addressed so suddenly. Turning quickly to look at Shiro, he tried to disguise his nerves.

Shiro’s kind expression met his worried one and he relaxed a little. “Keith. You know that you are important to me. I’m glad I met you back at the Garrison and you’re by far the best friend I’ve ever had. I still believe that there is a lot of potential in you that you refuse to acknowledge, but sooner or later you will discover it on your own.” A soft smile that made the last bit of tension inside of him unfurl. “Just remember not to rush headfirst into things. As I’ve heard from Kolivan, that’s still something you have to work on.”

“I thought we were supposed to say things you didn’t say before,” Keith deadpanned. Shiro grinned.

“Just taking this opportunity to make sure you know I’m serious about it,” he said, raising his hands as proof. Keith just rolled his eyes.

All of a sudden, there was silence. It took Keith a few moments to realize that it was because everyone was staring at him expectantly, it being his turn now.

His turn. Oh no. He gave them all a once-over, then he looked down again. How did one even do this? The words didn’t come on their own, Keith was clueless.

“Hey, Keith,” Lance called. A little startled, Keith locked his eyes with Lance’s blue ones. They were kind and encouraging, showing a part of Lance that they didn’t often get to see. “It’s alright, man. We’ll listen, whatever it is.”

“Yeah, um - alright. Okay. I’ll just. Hunk.” Keith fumbled for words but came up empty. “I _liked_ listening to you,” was what finally came out. “When you were tinkering or cooking. I can’t say that I understood everything, but it was nice. I felt… good. I don’t know. Included. Thank you for that.”

When Keith saw tears raising in Hunk’s eyes, he hastily lifted his hands and placed them back on the stone again. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t comfort him.

“Allura, I like you. You’re nice. I’m glad we are getting along again.” He hesitated but realized that if he didn’t let everything out, he wouldn’t get unstuck anyway. “I also think you’re cool and sometimes I wish I could have done more to help you. Especially when I was. You know. Supposed to be the leader. Sorry for letting you down.”

This time, Keith wasn’t quick enough when he lifted his hands and placed them down again.

“You didn’t let me down, Keith,” Allura said, frowning.

“Yeah, you didn’t let any of us down! How did you get that impression?” Hunk joined in.

Keith helplessly shook his head. “I did. I wasn’t- I wasn’t a good leader. I got us in a lot of trouble. You didn’t deserve that.”

“You were upset,” Lance said slowly. “You were more upset than anyone of us and adapting to a new position. But you listened to us and worked on the things we were concerned about - you got the hang of it after a while.”

“Lotor-”

“We survived that confrontation, didn’t we?” Pidge asked.

“Yeah, but-”

“Keith. Keith, buddy. You weren’t half bad at your job, stop beating yourself down.” Keith’s heart hurt at Lance’s soft voice, but he didn’t dare believe it just like that. He couldn’t. He knew that Lance was good at cheering people up, at telling them what they wanted to hear. But it wasn’t the truth.

“Hey. Hey, man, listen to me.” When Lance didn’t continue immediately, Keith raised his head to look at him. He had his earnest face on, the one that had made Keith fall in love with him in the first place. “When you were the leader, I felt listened to. I felt needed, appreciated. Sure, you were struggling, but so were we. We didn’t blame Allura when she ran into troubles with piloting Blue at first, and we’re not blaming you for having had troubles adapting to your position as the black paladin. You got us through the hardest time we’ve had to go through - without you at the helm, Lotor would have crushed us five ticks into our third meeting.”

Keith couldn’t talk. He was pretty sure that his hands would have been shaking, if he hadn’t already stuck them back to the stone after his confession. There were no words to express just how much Lance’s words meant to-

“I think I’m in love with you,” Keith blurted out.

Wait.

Oh no.

Swallowing heavily, Keith stumbled several steps back. His hands had detached themselves because _of course_ they had. This was what had been on Keith’s mind ever since the stupid alien had demanded their honesty.

“You’re _what_?!”

“No, I just- I-” Keith raised his hands in defense, only to have Lance’s eyes zero in on them. If possible, his face grew even more disbelieving at that. Keith hastily tried to hide them behind his back, as if hiding them would somehow hide the fact that they got unstuck too.

“You’re in _love_ with me?!”

“No!”

“But that’s what you just said! That’s what the stone said!”

“Yes but I-” Keith cut himself off. He didn’t know what to say. There was no ‘but’. He liked Lance as more than just a friend, full stop.

Swallowing down the urge to apologize for it, he stepped towards the stone again. He hadn’t finished his round yet.

“Pidge,” he said softly, startling her. “I already told you before that I think you’re cool. I don’t really have much to add but-”

“Wait, you’re moving on? Just like that?!”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?!” Keith exclaimed, finally looking at Lance again. “I don’t have more to say! I could tell you about how you helped me cope with Shiro’s loss, I could tell you about how I respect your sharpshooting skills and how much I appreciate you explaining jokes to me. I could try all day to find the words to explain how much I admire the way you handle people - but all that doesn’t matter. All of these are just part of the fact that I- that I-” Damn it, he had already said it once, why was it so hard to say it again?

“Me too,” Lance said finally, much calmer than before. Keith shook his head to get it back on track.

“You what?”

“I like you, too. In more than just a friend kind of way.”

Keith gaped. Casually, almost too casually Lance lifted his hands from the boulder. The moment they were gone, Keith felt his own right hand detach.

No way. But that meant that the round was over now. And that meant that Lance was telling the truth-

“Alright,” said the alien leader. Keith barely felt able to concentrate on him, he was still trying to process everything. How was _Lance_ interested in _him-_ “It seems that you were honest, after all. We are willing to meet you for a diplomatic discussion now if you so wish.”

“Oh, yes,” Allura agreed immediately. “That’d be perfect. Do you have a place for us to meet or would you prefer us to hold it aboard the ship?”

“We do have a place, but I believe that the conditions of our agreement were that the meeting would be on your terms.”

“Right, right.” Allura seemed flustered and Shiro took over.

“We’ll meet on the ship then. Please allow us half a varga to get everything ready and in order.”

It all passed by Keith in a blur. One moment they were still surrounding the stone, then everyone dispersed and made their way towards the castle. Keith was vaguely aware of Shiro’s hand on his shoulder, anchoring him and guiding him home, but most of himself was still trapped in the confusion surrounding Lance’s revelation.

There was just no way it was true. It couldn’t be. Something didn’t connect right in Keith’s head, it was like he was trying to force two magnets of equal polarization together. It just didn’t work.

Keith hadn’t even been aware that Shiro had left his side until a voice spoke up that definitely _wasn’t_ Shiro’s.

“So, uh… should we talk about it?”

Keith startled heavily at Lance’s question and had to take a moment to regain his footing. “I guess we should, yeah.”

“Alright. Cool, cool, cool. So, you like me.”

“Yeah,” Keith admitted, hating how his voice cracked.

“Hm. And I like you.”

“Apparently.” It couldn’t be true, he knew that - and yet, the idea had already begun to take root inside of him. His heart was beating faster and he began imagining countless ‘what-if’s.

What if it was true. What if Lance actually liked him. What if they decided to try it out, to go on a date, maybe two. Not too many of course, they were still in the middle of a war. No one had time for proper dates. But maybe, when he was in-between missions for once, they could take a break and visit Olkarion again. What if it worked out between them, what if they managed to survive the war and made it back to Earth together-

It was too much. There was no way all of that could happen.

But he wanted it. Oh god, how he wanted it.

“So, we gotta decide what to do about it,” Lance stated. Keith stopped in his tracks and turned towards him. Not that Lance noticed, he seemed to be busy continuing his train of thought. “I mean, we could just ignore it, but if I’m being honest I don’t really want that. It’s what I’ve been doing for the past few months and it had a shitty way of coming back to bite me in the ass through lonely video game sessions. Or we could try to make it work, but it’s gonna be hard, and we’re both gonna have to be ready to put some effort into-”

Finally, Lance seemed to notice that Keith wasn’t at his side anymore. He stopped and whirled around, a questioning look on his face. “Keith?”

“You actually want to try it?” Keith asked disbelievingly.

“I mean, yeah? Obviously?! Don’t people usually want to try it when they find out that their feelings are mutual?”

Keith couldn’t even reply, he was busy staring at Lance and trying to figure out his feelings. Was he happy? Shocked? Worried?

“...but I get that our situation is kind of special, so if you don’t want to try it out, we don’t have to.”

“No, if you want to, I want it, too,” Keith said.

He did?

 _He did_. He absolutely did. He wanted to call Lance between missions for no reason whatsoever, he wanted to make him laugh, he wanted to feel his hand on his shoulder or arm or anywhere, really. He wanted to go on dates and fight by his side and listen to his senseless complaints while leaning against him on the couch in the lounge. He wanted all that and so much more. It was scary how much he wanted it.

Before he could get lost in his own thoughts again, a hand grabbed his.

“So I guess we’re doing this, then,” Lance said, grinning.

Keith couldn’t help but think that he looked absolutely stunning. If a little hard work was what it took to keep Lance smiling like that, he’d be more than willing to invest it.

“Yeah, I - I guess we’re doing it.”

“What, cat got your tongue?”

“Oh, shut up. This isn’t exactly stuff I’m experienced in.”

“And you think I am?” Lance asked, raising one eyebrow. Keith’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you saying you _aren’t_?”

“Wow, I’ll take that as a compliment. But nope, while I know my way around flirting, I haven’t had a real date before.”

“I’m not even going to ask what counts as a not-real date.”

“You better don’t. Those aren’t exactly memories I want to recall.”

That’s when Keith laughed. It came as a surprise, bubbling up in him unannounced and yet freeing. Lance was ridiculous. Lance wanted to give this a shot. Lance wanted to give _them_ a shot.

“There’s one very important question I still have though,” Lance said when Keith had calmed down again. He had begun leading them towards the castle again, his right hand holding onto Keith’s left.

“...which is?”

“First kiss before or after the first date?”

Keith grinned, his heart fluttering with excitement. “Why not now?” With these words he dragged Lance towards him, his right hand weaving through his hair. The kiss wasn’t much more than a light press of their lips against each other until Lance caught up, letting go of Keith’s hand to pull him closer.

Yes. Now had been an excellent decision.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Alternatively titled:
> 
> \- "Keith is gay"  
> \- "Everybody loves Keith"  
> \- "Kuron The Binch Is Actually Really Sweet Let's Not Hate Him Please (jk) ((but also not really))"
> 
> come visit me on [tumblr](http://keiths-stupid-mullet.tumblr.com/) to scream about s5 :D


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